Broad City Season 4, Episode 9 Recap

Broad City Season 4, Episode 9 Recap: "Bedbugs"

Okay, it's been a minute. We had a week to relax and eat turkey in between Broad City's last weird and off-color episode and tonight's fresh start, which jumps back to the lighthearted, timeless Broad City we know and love even if — and I'll say it — things are starting to get a little stale? I'm definitely happy to keep tuning in purely for my love of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, but I no longer feel like I'd be missing out if I couldn't find time to watch.

But enough about me! This recap is for those of us who did hunker down on this Wednesday night for a half-hour of "yaaaas kweens" and weed jokes, and this time the women are dealing with something I'm surprised hasn't come up before on this heavily NYC-influenced show: bedbugs.

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The cold open, as is often the case, has little to do with the actual episode, but it does illustrate Ilana's problematic spending tendencies. She used the extra cash from her job to buy a car that she realizes is too much responsibility and ends up abandoning, but that wasn't the end of it. The real episode begins with her rescuing a puppy for Lincoln, getting "gently used" but nevertheless "$400" iPad for her brother, and an extremely expensive purse for Abbi. Like, twice her rent.

But Abbi deserves it. She's been going through a tough time since losing her job, and her spirits are majorly down as she recycles empty bottles for four dollars and attempts to return expired Dunkaroos to the young girl working her local bodega — whose name she's never bothered to learn.

Ilana's luck turns when she arrives home to give Jaime her final gift, but instead finds a crime scene. Her roommate is cowering in their shower and reveals that their apartment is plagued by bed bugs, every New Yorker's nightmare. The two can't agree on whose fault it is, but it becomes clear when Ilana admits she hasn't been using a mattress protector. They call in an exterminator (Carrie Black) who reveals that the source of the bed bugs is the damp money Ilana has been storing under her sheets. Ilana calls the restaurant she works at, and finds out that they're also infested, and have shut down indefinitely. The only solution? She has to burn all of her cash — which turns out to be the only money she has.

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Photo: Courtesy of Comedy Central.

Abbi, on the other hand, is having a banner of a day. The new bag has given her a much-needed dose of confidence, and when she's finished frolicking around the streets of New York, she heads into an Anthropologie and demands to speak to a manager. There, she gives the best interview of her life, and while the manager, Lisa, has to discuss it with higher-ups, it looks like Abbi's snagged herself a new gig.

But, as is always the case with Broad City, what goes up must come down. On her way out of Anthro, Abbi's bag attracts the attention of a mugger, played by Steve Buscemi, who follows Abbi before holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to withdraw money at her local bodega. Abbi begs for help from the girl working the counter, who appears to dismiss her due to Abbi's earlier rudeness.

Speaking of rudeness, the mugger is seriously disappointed in Abbi's lack of financial responsibility. As he squints at her paltry balance on the ATM, he shames her for living outside of her means, and not being prepared. He grabs the $300 she does have — or, well, did — as well as her bag, but before he can cause any more damage, he's interrupted.

"Get out of my bodega motherfucker," Masooma, the young girl working at the bodega, says, holding a shotgun to his head. The mugger runs away, and while they weren't able to get back Abbi's money or purse, the two did get some quality time to properly bond behind the counter.

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As they gab, Ilana approaches, revealing that Lincoln, her brother Elliot, and even her mother have refused to let her crash at their places while she deals with the infestation. Like a good friend, Abbi welcomes Ilana into her home with open arms — as long as she's covered with plastic bags first.

The next day, Abbi heads off to her new job at Anthropologie, ready for her life to take a turn. That is, until Lisa reveals Abbi's job is actually in security. No cute clothes for her, just a baggy blazer and a walkie-talkie. In the words of our protagonist: Abbi out.